From AGS Conclave: Shane Decker on What to Do When Your Client Says No

April 24, 2014byEmili Vesilind

The trainer schools retailers on not taking “no” for an answer

Shane Decker, president of the Ex-Sell-Ence Sales Academy, held a seminar at AGS Conclave Wednesday morning on closing sales. The three-hour lecture, which was peppered with tough love, some good-natured audience heckling, and hilarious anecdotes, was chock-full of pragmatic processes for retailers.

A standout section was Decker’s recipe for dealing with shoppers who, after being romanced by a good salesperson, still say no.

1. Pause for 3–4 seconds, which gives you time to think about your presentaton. Did I romance it enough? Did I find out how much technical they wanted? Most of the time when they say no it’s because the answers to these types of questions are “probably not.”

2. Lean in—I mean really lean in.

3. Then you whisper, and there are four things you say: “I thought this was the one you wanted” (most of the time they say, “You’re right, it is”). If it goes to the second level, you say “Do you have questions about this that I haven’t answered?” If you have to go to the third level, you ask, “You wanted the bigger one, didn’t you?” Then they say, “Oh, no, no, this is fine!” The fourth level is, “Are you comfortable with the price?” Only now can you say that. Price is last, not first.

4. If all else fails, go to the negotiation option. Say the diamond and ring is $10,000. Then they say, “I wasn’t prepared to spend that much.” Then say, “Okay, I will put in a half-carat diamond instead of a full carat.” Then the customer says, “But I want this one.” Quit taking money off!